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auroranoir's review
3.0
The best horrors have some measure of reality I think. George does this well. Don and Angela didn't take her concerns seriously. Like sure, the man did nothing illegal, but since when did something have to be illegal for it to be wrong? Don seriously gaslighted her too. I was genuinely feeling horrified while reading this at how real most of it was. Of course there's an element of the supernatural, however women get stalked in reality all too commonly. Gaslighting is also sadly all too common. "No, you're overreacting, it's all in your head." Unfortunately only when something horrible happens then you're believed. Except in Jessie's case, nobody knew that she was right. Nobody knew that something horrible happened to her.
I think George really captured the horrors of being unsettled by a man and having your concerns be framed as paranoia. Or worse, obsession. Don infuriated me and yet made me appreciate George's writing all the more. Because Donald is a typical person (esp. typical of a man) who thinks that everything is in her head. And oh the poor man is just a sad sap with no social skills and you're horrible for judging him you bad woman! George managed to captured that dread very well. The anger that comes from having people tell you that you're crazy in essence. She was being stalked by this man and nobody took her seriously.
And part of the horror comes from how normal this is. Jessie could be any woman. In fact, George himself in the story says that everyone knows a pear shaped man. Angela stated she could have met him on a date. He's a common man. Which adds to the element of horror. In fact, it's telling that it's women that he goes after to the point that in the end, he would know a woman who was different when he saw her. And he would go after her of course, the way the previous one went after Jessie.
Throughout the story, I kept thinking of how he had some of the hallmarks of a serial killer.
Also, despite the fact that it is something supernatural, the ending felt very much like a metaphor for rape.
I think George really captured the horrors of being unsettled by a man and having your concerns be framed as paranoia. Or worse, obsession. Don infuriated me and yet made me appreciate George's writing all the more. Because Donald is a typical person (esp. typical of a man) who thinks that everything is in her head. And oh the poor man is just a sad sap with no social skills and you're horrible for judging him you bad woman! George managed to captured that dread very well. The anger that comes from having people tell you that you're crazy in essence. She was being stalked by this man and nobody took her seriously.
And part of the horror comes from how normal this is. Jessie could be any woman. In fact, George himself in the story says that everyone knows a pear shaped man. Angela stated she could have met him on a date. He's a common man. Which adds to the element of horror. In fact, it's telling that it's women that he goes after to the point that in the end, he would know a woman who was different when he saw her. And he would go after her of course, the way the previous one went after Jessie.
Throughout the story, I kept thinking of how he had some of the hallmarks of a serial killer.
Also, despite the fact that it is something supernatural, the ending felt very much like a metaphor for rape.
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